Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Duterte

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #46
    Ooopppss...
    Philippines paid Abu Say
    yaf $1m ransom for Norwegian hostage, Duterte reveals by mistake
    When asked where the money came from, Duterte shot back: 'Maybe from my bank.'

    By Ananya Roy
    August 26, 2016 06:49 BST

    Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte
    Embed Feed
    Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte threatens to quit UN in foul-mouthed speech Reuters

    Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who recently issued orders to the country's armed forces to eliminate Abu Sayyaf, mistakenly revealed that they paid a ransom to the militant group for the release of Norwegian hostage Kjartan Sekkingstad. In what appeared to be a slip of the tongue, Duterte said 50m Philippines peso (£816,098, $1m) was paid to Abu Sayyaf.

    The accidental revelation came when the president was addressing a news conference in his hometown of Davao City on Wednesday (24 August) night. He was answering queries about the recent beheading of an Abu Sayyaf captive in Sulu province.
    More from IBTimes UK

    Philippines: Female assassins hired to kill drug dealers – Report
    'Destroy' Abu Sayyaf, Rodrigo Duterte tells police and armed forces after extremists behead hostage
    Abducted Indonesian fisherman escapes from Abu Sayyaf captivity as they were preparing to behead him

    So far, the Filipino government has maintained that it has a policy of not surrendering to kidnappers' demands. However, the latest revelation by the president himself has raised concerns about the country's stand against Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to international terrorist group Islamic State (Isis).

    Journalists when asked Duterte whether he was aware of the beheading on Tuesday (23 August) in Sulu, he retorted: "If that's the one, then I will accuse the Abu Sayyaf of acting in bad faith. They have been paid 50,000 Philippine Pseso already." He then corrected himself and said the ransom amount was 50m Philippine peso, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

    Duterte apparently thought that the journalists were referring to the Norwegian hostage who has still not been released by Abu Sayyaf from captivity, while the question actually referred to the beheading of 18-year-old Patrick James Almodovar, who was abducted on 16 July from a village in Jolo Island in southwest Philippines. The boy was kidnapped by the Ajang-Ajang faction of Abu Sayyaf .
    Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte abu sayyaf
    Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte mistakenly spilled out the secret that his government paid 50m Philippine peso to Abu Sayyaf for the release of Norwegian hostage Kjartan SekkingstadReuters

    However, the president soon realised that he had disclosed a piece of information that should have been a secret, and immediately changed the course of the interaction by reasserting his resolve to fight the militant group. "Destroy them. Period," he said.

    The president declined to divulge any more information about the ransom payment. When asked where the money came from, he only said: "Maybe from my bank."
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

    Comment


    • #47
      . Kindergarten pupil becomes the youngest victim in President Duterte's war on drugs
      BY ROMIL PATEL ON 8/27/16 AT 4:52 PM


      0:00
      / 1:15


      Philippines: Police chief tells narcotic users to kill drug lords
      REUTERS
      A five-year-old girl has become the youngest reported victim of the Philippines' deadly war on drugs, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. Danica May Garcia bled to death after she was suffered a gunshot wound to the head as her family sat down to lunch on Tuesday, 23 August.

      The target of the hit was the child's grandfather, 53-year-old Maximo Garcia, according to reports. Just days before the killing in Dagupan City, located more than 130 miles north-west of Manila, Garcia handed himself into the local police in an effort to clear his name after he was suspected of being involved in the drug trade. Garcia survived three gunshots to the abdomen.

      More from IBTimes UK
      'No deal for the sake of it,' says John Kerry as US and Russia Syria talks fail
      Donald Trump campaign boss Stephen Bannon did not want daughters 'going to school with Jews'
      Donald Trump's doctor says he wrote the presidential candidate's health report in 5 minutes
      "We have a witness who came forward to identify the gunman," Dagupan police Chief Neil Miro told CNN. "I will withhold the name of the suspect, but it seems it may have something to do with illegal drugs, too.

      ADVERTISEMENT
      "We are still investigating the real motive, but since Maximo Garcia surrendered last Friday for drug use, we have reason to believe the attack was related to his drug activities," he added.

      Since Rodrigo Duterte assumed office on 1 July, more than 1,000 people have been killed by unidentified gunmen as part of the national "war on drugs", according to HRW. In addition, statistics show that 712 "drug pushers and users" have been killed in police operations.

      "This is so painful to us," Garcia's wife, Gemma, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. "I would miss the nights when Danica would massage us until we fell asleep. I would miss her laughter when she teased her mother."

      She denied that her husband had ever been involved in drugs and expressed fear over Garcia's fate. "We are afraid to stay here. But the problem is where will we go? The killers may come back for my husband," she said.

      Duterte's merciless crackdown on crime has been widely criticised, prompting rights groups and some politicians to speak out against the 71-year-old. On Monday (22 August), Filipino senators began an investigation into the spiralling deaths under Duterte's leadership.

      ADVERTISEMENT
      "What is particularly worrisome is that the campaign against drugs seems to be an excuse for some – may I just emphasise, some – law enforcers and other vigilantes to commit murder with impunity," senator Leila de Lima said.
      ....


      . You can kill them’: Filipino police chief tells drug addicts to kill dealers

      By Kevin Nielsen
      Senior Web Coordinator Global News














      WATCH ABOVE: Kill your dealers: Filipino police chief to drug addicts

      The chief of police in the Philippines told a group of drug users to kill dealers and burn their homes in a speech similar to one given by the country’s president Rodrigo Duterte on the day he took office in June.

      On that day, Duterte entered a Manila slum and told residents to “go ahead and kill (drug users) yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful.”

      Story continues below

      Global News
      Since then, nearly 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users have been killed in the Philippines. Police have blamed drug dealers resisting arrest or gang feuds for the high number, according to the Associated Press.

      READ MORE: 1,800 drug-related killings over last 7 weeks in Philippines

      Philippines chief Ronald dela Rosa is leading Duterte’s crusade against drugs. He met with a group of about 1,300 drug users and pushers who had voluntarily surrendered to the police in Bacolod City Thursday and told them it was OK to kill the dealers.

      “You can kill them because you are the victims. Go to them, pour gasoline on their houses and burn it down. Show them your anger,” dela Rosa said.

      He told the crowd the dealers were getting wealthy while they were the victims.

      “These people have long been getting rich. What about you? Your brains are getting small and melting,” dela Rosa added.

      Before being elected, Duterte promised to wipe out drugs and told drug dealers they would need to clean up their act or they could be killed.

      Since Duterte was elected, his polling numbers have gone through the roof as a recent poll has seen his support climb to 91 per cent.

      READ MORE: ‘Stupid’ UN: Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte goes on expletive-laden rant

      Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, said Duterte “is steamrolling the rule of law and its advocates both at home and abroad.” The killings suggest his aggressive rhetoric advocating extrajudicial solutions to criminality has found a receptive audience, Kine said.

      *With files from wire services
      Last edited by troung; 28 Aug 16,, 14:43.
      To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

      Comment


      • #48

        Philippines' Duterte: Obama must listen to me on human rights










        Duterte says Obama must listen to him first on human rights (01:32)











        Explosion at SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch site


        Caracas readies for anti-Maduro march


        Malaysia reports first case of Zika


        Obama highlights climate progress in Hawaii




        Duterte says Obama must listen to him first on human rights

        01:32










        Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week, but added that the U.S. president must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights.

        Washington has expressed concern about a surge in drug-related killings since Duterte became president two months ago promising to wipe out narcotics in the Southeast Asian nation.

        Asked if he would be willing to discuss human rights at his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of an East Asia summit on Sept. 6, Duterte told reporters: "Depends to what degree.



        ADVERTISING


        inRead invented by Teads

        "They must understand the problem first before we talk about human rights. I would insist, listen to me: this is what the problem is, then we can talk."


        Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a National Heroes Day commemoration at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes' Cemetery) in Taguig city, Metro Manila in the Philippines August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro


        Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a National Heroes Day commemoration at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes' Cemetery) in Taguig city, Metro Manila in the Philippines August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

        In a statement, the foreign ministry said the meeting would be an opportunity for the president to "communicate his advocacy to improve the peace and order situation in the country, especially toward eradicating the scourge of illicit drugs".

        Police data released on Tuesday showed that the number of drug-related killings since Duterte took office now stands at around 2,000, nearly half of them in police operations and the rest in shootings by unidentified gunmen.

        Duterte has been unapologetic over unleashing the police on drug users and dealers and has responded robustly to criticism from the United Nations and other countries over his campaign.

        Recently he lashed out at Washington's ambassador to the Philippines, branding him a "gay son of a whore".

        The White House said on Monday that Obama would raise concerns about some of Duterte's recent statements when the two meet.

        However, it said there were also important security issues for the two closely allied countries to discuss, particularly tension over navigation in the South China Sea. China has been incensed by a ruling against its claims in the South China Sea by an international court, a case initiated by Manila.

        The two leaders were expected to discuss ways to strengthen the security alliance after Manila allowed the U.S. military to rotate its forces in five local air and army bases, foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose said.

        Duterte said he would also hold talks with China, which will be represented at the Laos meeting by Premier Li Keqiang. Media reports said he would also meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.


        (Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Nick Macfie
        ....
        To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

        Comment


        • #49
          Good way to keep the police in line and purge others.


          Duterte offers P2M bounty on cops protecting drug trade





          By: Nestor Corrales

          @NCorralesINQ


          INQUIRER.net

          09:16 AM August 29th, 2016




          President Rodrigo Duterte is placing a P2-million bounty on the heads of members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who are protecting the drug trade in the country.

          “I am inclined to place a reward on their head, the members of the PNP who are protecting drug syndicates in this country,” Duterte said in his speech at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Monday.


          “I am placing on their head P2 million,” he added.

          The President said his war against drugs would be bloody.

          READ: Drug war enters Phase 2

          “I will be harsh as I can ever be,” he said.

          “I will not relent. The campaign will be continuous. I will finish this war against corruption, drugs, and crime,” he added.

          The 71-year-old chief executive said he would take full take responsibility for his no-nonsense war against illegal drugs as he told police authorities to step up their campaign.

          “I will go to prison for you,” he said.

          Duterte has earlier named top police officials allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. RAM/rga


          Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/810609/...#ixzz4J6TWgh4j
          Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

          Meet the Nightcrawlers of Manila: A night on the front lines of the Philippines' war on drugs





          Photojournalism in the time of Duterte







          Freelance photographer Linus Guardian Escandor II has seen the nature of his job on the Manilla police beat change since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte.




          By Jonathan Kaiman

          August 26, 2016, 3:00 AM |Reporting from Manila



          The radio crackled.

          Linus Guardian Escandor II knew what was coming. The station, AM 594 kHz, would report a summary execution. He would squeeze into a pickup truck with four other photojournalists, speed through Manila to some rain-slicked slum or dark alley and arrive while the bodies still lay in the streets.


          Their hands would likely be tied, their faces wrapped in tape, blood flowing from bullet wounds in their heads and chests.

          For more than a month, the scene has played out every night — often twice a night, sometimes more. But on this Thursday morning at 2 a.m., it hadn’t yet — so Escandor, a 37-year-old freelance photographer, sat in the press room at Manila’s police headquarters with about a dozen other photojournalists, the TV on mute, just listening to the radio crackle.







          Paid Post


          What's This?





          The 2016 New Sedan Models

          A Message from Yahoo


          Everything you have ever wanted to know about the 2016 new sedan models. Yahoo Search can help!
          See More


          “In the morning, if you shoot dead people, it's gory, but at night it’s almost beautiful,” he said, clicking through photos on his laptop. “You can hide the blood, because of the shadows. It's psychedelic, the colors.”




          “If you shoot dead people, it's gory, but at night it's almost beautiful. You can hide the blood, because of the shadows. It's psychedelic, the colors.


          ft




          w

          v



          The Nightcrawlers of ManilaPHOTO GALLERY
          í

          As promised in his election campaign, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is waging a war against drugs, with a shoot-to-kill policy for suspected criminals. Since his inauguration on June 30, the bodies have been piling up, alarming human rights advocates. Photojournalist Linus Guardian Escandor II has documented the killings.


          When Escandor began working the graveyard shift in 2014, he mainly covered fires and car accidents. Then, this June, Rodrigo Duterte came to power as president of the Philippines. Duterte, a tough-talking, 71-year-old former mayor of the southern city of Davao, had campaigned on promises to eradicate the country’s drug problem within six months.

          He vowed to let nothing stand in his way — not his opposition, not human rights, not due process.

          "Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun — you have my support," he said on June 6, in a nationally televised address. "Shoot [the drug dealer] and I'll give you a medal."

          Since Duterte was inaugurated on June 30, the bodies have been piling up. About 1,900 people have been killed, according to local media, the vast majority of them poor. Among them, more than half were executed by vigilantes, often gunmen on motorcycles. The rest were killed by police.

          See the most-read stories in World News this hour »

          And thus Escandor, a bald, bright-eyed man with a muted intensity, found himself on the execution beat. This was a historic moment, he thought. Illegal drugs, particularly the methamphetamine “shabu,” have been endemic in the Philippines for years, and Duterte’s efforts to stamp them out have proved enormously popular — he enjoys a 91% approval rating, the polling organization Pulse found in July. Yet critics have warned of a breakdown in social order; without due process, they say, the country could sink into a mire of unaccountable killings.

          So Escandor and his colleagues have spent every night chasing “The Shot” — something powerful enough to shine a light on the crackdown’s human cost. Something that could change the conversation.

          Suddenly, somebody turned up the radio, until voices roared out of a static haze. “There’s one,” Escandor said — two bodies on a nearby highway. The journalists gathered their equipment, ran out into the rain, jumped into their pickup trucks and sped into the night.




          “Shoot [the drug dealer] and I'll give you a medal.
          — Rodrigo Duterte

          ft




          The Nightcrawlers of Manila

          ò






          A law enforcement official shows the bullets and a handgun found at a crime scene in Manila. (Linus Guardian Escandor II / For The Times)




          The evening had begun at 9:20 p.m., with a group dinner of tapsilog — a Filipino dish of beef jerky, egg, and rice — and a failed attempt at photographing a recently slain local official, who lay in an autopsy room surrounded by family, police keeping watch outside.

          Just after midnight, they decided to visit a wake. A Manila Bulletin newspaper employee drove them in a company pickup truck. They passed stray dogs, drunk teenagers and emaciated men sleeping beneath highway on-ramps, and stopped near an alley between two crumbling low-rises, where white lights shone from a trio of canopy tents.

          Beneath one, Ricardo de Lemon, 36, lay in a white open casket, his face thick with funeral makeup. A few feet away, his wife, Gima Ros de Lemon, 29, sat receiving guests.

          “We have seven children,” she said. Behind her, a throng of men huddled over a coin-tossing game, betting stacks of cash.

          Ricardo drove a jeepney, she said — a clunky stretched jeep that serves as the country’s most popular form of public transport. On Aug. 6, nearing the end of a long shift, she sat with him in the vehicle’s front seat; behind them, a lone passenger was obscured by shadows. He wore a black cap and a black jacket with a white shirt underneath.

          “That passenger had a gun with a silencer,” she recalled.





          The Nightcrawlers of Manila

          ò






          Children of a Ricardo de Lemon, 36, who was killed, sleep beside the coffin during a wake in Manila. (Linus Guardian Escandor II / For The Times)




          The man fired and missed. Then he fired a few more rounds, hitting Ricardo twice. “I saw the man pointing the gun at me, and I closed my eyes,” she said. “I said to myself, ‘Lord, please take care of my children.’”

          Then, a shock — her husband mustered some strength and threw her out of the vehicle. The man fired again; the bullet hit Ricardo and Ricardo died.

          De Lemon produced a folder stuffed with photographs, court documents and medical records. Ricardo never did drugs, she said. In early 2015, though, he spent 19 days in prison on robbery charges. There, police beat him, and later, freed on bail, he sued them for abuse. A court agreed to hear his case in September.

          “That case was likely the reason for the assassination,” she said.

          De Lemon laid down her stack of papers and picked up her infant daughter. The men continued gambling, silent except for the clinking of coins.

          On July 23, Escandor and his colleagues were covering a summary execution when they got wind of a nearby incident, so they drove to the scene, and what they found there shocked them.

          A young woman sat on the pavement, cradling the body of her dead husband, bathed in the light of television cameras. The words “drug pusher” adorned a cardboard sign at their feet. “Tell my papa to come here,” she wailed, according to Escandor. “Help us.”

          “We were all silent, stunned,” Escandor recalled. “Because it was the first time we felt that kind of emotion.”





          The Nightcrawlers of Manila

          ò






          Jennilyn Olayres cradles the dead body of her husband, Michael Siaron, an alleged drug pusher. He was killed by unidentified gunmen in Pasay City south of Manila. (Linus Guardian Escandor II / For The Times)




          This, he thought, might be The Shot. One of those rare images so heartbreaking, so raw, that it could turn the tide of public opinion — like the “Napalm Girl” photo in 1972, which came to represent the horrors of the Vietnam War, or the 1993 image of a vulture stalking a starving toddler in Sudan, which directed a flood of international attention toward the war-torn country.


          They dubbed it “The Pieta,” after a 1499 sculpture by Michelangelo, depicting the Virgin Mary cradling her son Jesus’ dead body. The following day, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippines’ widely read broadsheet newspaper, ran the photo — taken by Raffy Lerma, a staff photographer — on its front page. Beneath it read the headline: “Church: Thou Shalt Not Kill.”


          lRelated

          Her husband was killed in the Philippines drug war. No one would help her find answers



          Her husband was killed in the Philippines drug war. No one would help her find answers











          But the outrage never came. On July 25, Duterte, in his first State of the Nation address, accused the newspaper of “doing dramatics,” and his supporters rallied on social media. They called the photograph “yellow journalism” and suggested that the journalists were bankrolled by the president’s enemies — perhaps even the drug lords themselves.


          “This was unprecedented,” Vincent Go, a local photographer for the Hong Kong-based Union of Catholic Asian News, said during a lull in the evening. The other photojournalists nodded.

          “It's like a gang thing — they’re trying to discredit the media,” said Lerma, the Philippine Inquirer photographer.

          “I don't feel safe,” Ezra Acayan, 22, a freelancer for an international news agency, said later, in an unguarded moment. “Anytime motorcyclists pull up alongside my car, wearing full face helmets, I always think they're going to assassinate me or something.”

          He went quiet for a moment, then laughed. “I always try to remember if somebody wants me dead.”

          This time, they drove fast. They drove past shuttered storefronts, a trash-strewn canal, a faded “Duterte for President” campaign poster hanging from a telephone pole. About 10 minutes later, the car slowed.

          “See that traffic?” Escandor said, peering out at a line of trucks. “That's because of the bodies.”

          The photographers stepped out into a torrential downpour and weaved through the trucks to a roadblock, eerie in the glare of red and blue police lights.

          They were tough to make out at first: a young man, perhaps a teenager, curled up lifeless by the concrete divider; and about 50 feet away, another person — an older man with a wispy mustache — sprawled on the pavement barefoot, his head matted in blood. Escandor raised his camera.

          Duterte’s war on drugs claimed 21 victims that day, Aug. 11, according to the Philippine Inquirer’s “Kill List,” an online resource on the campaign’s death toll. Among them, 14 were killed by police and at least six by “unknown hit men.”

          The Inquirer listed the men on the highway as “unidentified suspect #203 and #204 … alleged robbers … killed in police shootout.”

          Before long, the police moved the bodies onto stretchers, and the journalists continued to snap photos as their blood washed away with the rain.

          [email protected]

          Follow me on Twitter @JRKaiman
          http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la...nap-story.html
          Last edited by troung; 02 Sep 16,, 19:19.
          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

          Comment


          • #50
            Duterte mulls hiring hatchet men, mercenaries to destroy Abu Sayyaf
            Piñol: President focused on bandit group's annihilation
            SHARES: 2589
            VIEW COMMENTS
            By: Allan Nawal
            @inquirerdotnet
            Inquirer Mindanao
            11:55 PM September 4th, 2016
            President Rodrigo Duterte declares a state of lawlessness in Mindanao and orders more police and military checkpoints on the island. (SCREENGRAB OF RTVM VIDEO)

            President Rodrigo Duterte declares a state of lawlessness in Mindanao and orders more police and military checkpoints on the island. (SCREENGRAB OF RTVM VIDEO)

            DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte wants the fight with the Abu Sayyaf to end in the bandit group’s annihilation that he is even willing to hire fearless hatchet men or mercenaries to make this happen, according to a ranking Cabinet official said.

            Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said in a Facebook post on Sunday that during a meeting with security officials and some Cabinet members that started Saturday evening and ended about 4 a.m. on Sunday, Duterte was so furious at the Abu Sayyaf’s terror attacks, especially in the wake of the bomb attack here on Friday.

            “If I have to hire the Gurkhas to help us fight the Abu Sayyaf, I am willing to do it,” Piñol quoted Mr. Duterte as saying during the meeting held at Enclaves in Matina, which he had also attended.

            He said the President was referring to the Nepali Gurkhas, who had earned the respect of the British for being fearless during the Gorkha War of 1814-1816.

            The Nepali Gurkhas were akin to the French Legion, which were close to, but were not considered mercenaries under the Geneva Convention.

            Piñol said Mr. Duterte had acknowledged that the Abu Sayyaf and other extremist groups were “products of historical injustices” but their recent actions – such as the beheading of kidnap victims and bomb attacks – called for the use of force.

            “There’s no other option. These people are like germs, which must be eliminated,” Piñol quoted the President as saying about the Abu Sayyaf.

            “You started this. I wanted to talk to you but you leave me with no choice,” Duterte said, according to Piñol.
            President Rodrigo Duterte stares at the ground of the Davao City night market where 14 were killed and around 60 were wounded on Sept. 2, 2016. (SCREENGRAB OF RTVM VIDEO/ Courtesy of Presidential Communications)

            President Rodrigo Duterte stares at the ground of the Davao City night market where 14 were killed and around 60 were wounded on Sept. 2, 2016. (SCREENGRAB OF RTVM VIDEO/ Courtesy of Presidential Communications)

            “The President, who was obviously hurting from the terror attack which left (14) people dead, including a young child, and over 60 others wounded, however, called on the nation to prepare for reprisals from the terror group similar to the bombing at Davao City’s Roxas (Avenue),” Piñol said.

            But he said the “sacrifices to be made” would “address this problem once and for all.”

            “The bombing in Davao City (on Friday evening) served as the proverbial last straw that broke the camel’s back,” Piñol said of the President’s new position.

            The military has sent nearly 10,000 troops to Sulu in a bid to combat the Abu Sayyaf, which has recently killed 15 soldiers. Since August 26, the military said it has killed 30 bandits in the island-province. SFM



            Quote:
            Duterte declares 'state of lawlessness' nationwide
            Saturday, September 03, 2016
            President Rodrigo Duterte. (SunStar File Photo)

            President Rodrigo Duterte. (SunStar File Photo)

            DAVAO CITY (Updated)-- President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of lawlessness in the entire country effective today, September 3, but cautioned that this is not a declaration of martial law.

            On Friday night, September 2, a bomb exploded in a busy night market area on corner Padre gomez, Roxas Avenue, Davao City, killing 14 people and injuring 60.

            "I am declaring state of lawlessness nationwide effective today (Saturday, September 3)," Duterte said.


            The President explained that it will not be martial law, but he emphasized that more military movements will be implemented.

            Based on the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the President has the authority "to call in the military to act as police support in cases of terrorist attacks or such violent conflicts."

            He added that Davao City will be locked down and there will be massive checkpoints.

            The President said the Davao explosion is not an isolated case, adding the government is expecting similar incidents in other areas in the country.

            "These are extraordinary times and I suppose I am allowed to authorize security forces to do searches," he said.





            Quote:
            ice Mayor Duterte got info on bomb threat 2 days ago
            SHARES: 24.1K
            VIEW COMMENTS
            By: Karlos Manlupig
            @inquirerdotnet
            Inquirer Mindanao
            01:27 AM September 3rd, 2016

            DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said he received information of a bomb threat two days ago.

            “Ang sabi do not pass this around so tumahimik na lang ako (It said don’t pass this around so I kept quiet),” he said, adding that the threat indicated that the attack would happen in General Santos City or Davao.

            The vice mayor recently drew flak for announcing a still-to-be verified bomb threat in the city.

            This time, Duterte said, he opted to keep silent to avoid being criticized.

            Duterte confirmed at least 10 people were killed in the explosion in a night market here Friday night.

            READ: At least 10 dead in Davao blast–Vice Mayor Duterte

            Hundreds of people go to the night market which features street food, massage and rows of ukay-ukay stalls.

            The explosion happened some 100 meters away from the Ateneo de Davao Universit
            y. TVJ
            To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

            Comment


            • #51
              Awaiting a tin of butter cookies from squirrel
              Obama cancels meeting with Duterte
              By Josh Lederman and Kathleen Hennessy (Associated Press) | Updated September 6, 2016 - 7:22am
              81 334 googleplus0 1
              Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte boards his limousine upon arrival in Vientiane, Laos to attend the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and other related summits Monday, Sept. 5, 2016 in Vientiane, Laos. Laos is this year's host of the annual regional meeting and its dialogue partners that includes the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. AP Photo/Bullit Marquez
              VIENTIANE, Laos — US President Barack Obama called off a planned meeting Tuesday with President Rodrigo Duterte, seeking distance from a US ally's leader during a diplomatic tour that's put Obama in close quarters with a cast of contentious world figures.

              It's unusual for one president to tell another what to say or not say, and much rarer to call the other a "son of a bitch." Duterte managed to do both just before flying to Laos for a regional summit, warning Obama not to challenge him over extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

              "Clearly, he's a colorful guy," Obama said. "What I've instructed my team to do is talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out is this in fact a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations."

              Early Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the meeting with Duterte was off.

              Duterte has been under intense global scrutiny over the more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users killed since he took office. Obama had said he planned to raise the issue in his first meeting with Duterte, but the Philippine leader insisted he was only listening to his own country's people.

              "You must be respectful," Duterte said of Obama. "Do not just throw questions." Using the Tagalog phrase for "son of a bitch," he said, "Putang ina I will swear at you in that forum." He made the comment to reporters in Manilla.

              Eager to show he wouldn't yield, Obama said he would "undoubtedly" still bring up human rights and due process concerns "if and when" the two do meet.

              The bizarre rift with the leader of a US treaty ally was the most glaring example of how Obama has frequently found himself bound to foreign countries and leaders whose ties to the US are critical even if their values sharply diverge.

              In Hangzhou this week, Obama's first stop in Asia, he heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping for hosting the Group of 20 economic summit in his country, an authoritarian state long accused of human rights violations. His next stop was another one-party communist country with a dismal rights record: Laos, where mysterious disappearances have fueled concerns about a government crackdown.

              And sitting down with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Obama made no mention in public of the roughly 35,000 people Erdogan's government detained following the summer's failed coup in Turkey. Instead, he worked to reassure the NATO ally the US would help bring to justice whoever was responsible for plotting the coup.

              Obama also spent about 90 minutes Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another leader whose fate seems intertwined with Obama's in all the wrong ways. On opposing sides of many global issues, the US and Russia are nonetheless trying to broker a deal to address the Syrian civil war and perhaps even partner militarily there.

              "President Putin's less colorful," Obama said, comparing him with Duterte. "But typically the tone of our meetings is candid, blunt, businesslike."

              Managing Duterte has become a worsening headache for Obama since the Filipino took office on June 30, pledging his foreign policy wouldn't be constricted by reliance on the US Washington has tried largely to look the other way as Duterte has pursued closer relations with China, a marked shift for the Philippines considering recent tensions over Beijing's aspirations in the South China Sea.

              A public break from the Philippines would put Obama in a tough position, given the Southeast Asian nation's status as a longtime US ally. The Obama administration has sought to compartmentalize by arguing that military and other cooperation won't be jeopardized even if it detests the current Philippine leader's tone.

              Last month, Duterte said he didn't mind Secretary of State John Kerry but "had a feud with his gay ambassador — son of a bitch, I'm annoyed with that guy." He applied the same moniker to an Australian missionary who was gang-raped and killed, and even to Pope Francis, even though the Philippines is a heavily Catholic nation. He later apologized.

              With a reputation as a tough-on-crime former mayor, Duterte has alarmed human rights groups with his deadly campaign against drugs, which Duterte has described as a harsh war. He has said the battle doesn't amount to genocide but has vowed to go to jail if needed to defend police and military members carrying out his orders.

              ___

              Hennessey reported from Hangzhou, China. Associated Press writer Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
              Xi ready to lose Duterte in Laos?
              POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr. (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 6, 2016 - 12:00am
              7 16 googleplus1 0

              THE DIPLOMATIC mettle of President Rodrigo Duterte will be tested this week in Vientiane, Laos, in getting a positive response from China President Xi Jinping to his plea that Filipinos be allowed to fish again in their traditional fishing ground grabbed by the Chinese.

              The minimum expectation is an assurance that China will stop barring Filipinos from Panatag (Scarborough, Huangyan) shoal where they have been casting their nets for generations. The area is 120 nautical miles west of Zambales and 530 nm east of Hainan, the nearest China land mass.

              If China remains inflexible on this single issue of sharing Panatag equitably with its rightful beneficiaries, the entire effort of building firm and friendly ties between China and the Philippines will lose its meaning.

              After a standoff in mid-2012, Philippine vessels left Panatag in good faith under a mutual-pullout agreement brokered by the United States – but China reneged on it. Chinese patrol craft and fishing boats stayed, and its coast guard has since controlled the area.

              Duterte has humbled himself by publicly begging China to share Panatag with Filipinos whose friendship he affirmed. Elaborating, he cited the somewhat irrelevant fact that he, like many Filipinos, has Chinese blood.

              But instead of a positive response, the President received intelligence reports that Beijing has moved in barges, indicating that China is preparing to reclaim and convert the shoal into an islet as it has done in several other disputed maritime areas.

              Hong Kong media have reported of China’s alleged plans to build an airstrip on Panatag after its development, and to set up missiles on the artificial island. These reports have not been confirmed independently, but Beijing has not denied them either.
              • How to catch the ears of Xi and Obama?

              VIENTIANE is Duterte’s first summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He will accept there the Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017, its 50th founding year, during which Manila will host some 40 major meetings.

              Debuting on the world stage with the terrorist bombing in his home city of Davao in the background, Duterte has to catch the ear of Xi above the din of the ASEAN summit and the power talk of the Big Boys pushing their respective agenda.

              If China’s leader Xi defers making a clear commitment on Panatag, or if he interposes too many pre-conditions for substantive talks, it may be time for Duterte to reassess his seeming partiality to Beijing’s overtures and show some spine.

              Duterte seems to be holding out for such items as railroad lines, other infrastructure and joint investments. But such long-gestation projects will be overshadowed by the administration’s failure to quickly restore the normalcy of the lives of Filipino families displaced from Panatag.

              His meeting with US President Barack Obama is being watched as the latter is expected to express concern over the summary killings that have marked his anti-drugs drive. Duterte is touchy on the subject of human rights and extrajudicial killings.

              But it helps Manila’s cause that Obama raised before Xi on the eve of the G20 summit in Hangzhou the need to abide by the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague striking down China’s claim over much of the South China Sea and infringing on the rights of the Philippines based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

              Obama stressed the US’s “unwavering commitment to the security of its treaty allies,” and reaffirmed its working “with all countries in the region to uphold the principles of international law, unimpeded lawful commerce, and freedom of navigation and over-flight.”

              China has rejected the UNCLOS ruling and accused the US of fomenting trouble in the areas where its territorial claims overlap those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China also has a quarrel with Japan over the Senkaku islands.
              • Questions raised on ‘state of lawlessness’

              AS HE LEFT for Vientiane, Duterte kicked up a storm with his declaring a “state of lawlessness” in the aftermath of the Friday night terror bombing that left at least 15 dead in Davao.

              The questions raised pertained mostly to the effects on civil liberties of the issuance as did the Marcos declaration of martial law in 1972. Not a few people asked if this was a preview of creeping martial law Duterte-style – to which Malacañang said “No!”

              But why only now? There has been lawless violence in the Philippines long before Duterte noticed it.

              Even without his declaration of a state of lawless violence, Duterte as Commander-in-Chief can order the armed forces and the police –which are under him – to move to suppress acts of violence or lawlessness, and set up checkpoints.

              Malacañang was quick to point out that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and the rights guaranteed under the Constitution are intact.

              So what is the difference? It seems that Duterte’s declaration merely confirmed what the people already know – that the country is in a lawless situation or condition.

              What added to the alarm was his “inviting the AFP and the PNP to run the country in accordance with my specifications”! What does that mean?

              Lawyer Romy Macalintal explained that the President’s declaration is within his power as Commander-in-Chief under Section 18, Article VII, giving him authority to “call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion.”

              He recalled that in 2006 the power of then President Gloria Arroyo to issue Proclamation No. 1017 declaring a State of National Emergency was assailed before the Supreme Court. The tribunal ruled that “the only criterion for the exercise of the President’s ‘calling-out power’ is that ‘whenever it becomes necessary,’ the President may call the armed forces to ‘prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion.’”

              The SC sustained Arroyo’s issuance of the proclamation since “owing to her Office’s vast intelligence network, she is in the best position to determine the actual condition of the country.”

              * * *

              ADVISORY: To access Postscript archives, go to www.manilamail.com (if necessary, copy/pa
              Philippines leader curses Obama; White House cancels meeting

              By Sheena McKenzie and Kevin Liptak, CNN

              Updated 8:24 PM ET, Mon September 5, 2016

              philippines duterte war on drugs watson pkg_00002607.jpg
              A brutal war on drugs in the Philippines

              (CNN)Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte tore into President Obama with an obscenity on Monday, leading the White House to cancel an upcoming meeting with Duterte.
              White House officials previously said Obama would confront Duterte about his country's handling of drug dealers, including extrajudicial killings, which are government executions without the benefit of judicial proceedings.

              "Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people," Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday. "Son of a bitch, I will swear at you."
              Obama and Duterte had been set to meet in Laos this week, where Obama is attending a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders.
              Obama instead will meet on Tuesday with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea.
              Foreign diplomats weighing in on Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks did not sit well with the then-mayor.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Foreign diplomats weighing in on Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks did not sit well with the then-mayor.
              Hide Caption
              6 of 10
              He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
              Hide Caption
              7 of 10
              At a CNN Philippines Townhall event in February 2016, Duterte, admitted that he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled due to his womanizing, but he denied this meant he objectified women.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              At a CNN Philippines Townhall event in February 2016, Duterte, admitted that he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled due to his womanizing, but he denied this meant he objectified women.
              Hide Caption
              8 of 10
              Although he later denied the accusations, the former Davao City mayor admitted his links to the alleged Davao death squad in a May 2015 broadcast of his local television talk show.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Although he later denied the accusations, the former Davao City mayor admitted his links to the alleged Davao death squad in a May 2015 broadcast of his local television talk show.
              Hide Caption
              9 of 10
              Duterte apologized to the Pope after cursing him for the traffic he caused during a 2015 Papal visit to the Philippines.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Duterte apologized to the Pope after cursing him for the traffic he caused during a 2015 Papal visit to the Philippines.
              Hide Caption
              10 of 10
              As he addressed troops at the country's Armed Forces Central Command Headquarters on August 5, Duterte recounted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, saying in Tagalog that he was feuding with U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              As he addressed troops at the country's Armed Forces Central Command Headquarters on August 5, Duterte recounted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, saying in Tagalog that he was feuding with U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
              Hide Caption
              1 of 10
              The Philippines president-elect effectively said he supported vigilantism against drug dealers and criminals in a nationally televised speech in June 2016.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              The Philippines president-elect effectively said he supported vigilantism against drug dealers and criminals in a nationally televised speech in June 2016.
              Hide Caption
              2 of 10
              Speaking at a press conference to unveil his new cabinet on May 31 2016, Rodrigo Duterte said journalists killed on the job in the Philippines were often corrupt.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Speaking at a press conference to unveil his new cabinet on May 31 2016, Rodrigo Duterte said journalists killed on the job in the Philippines were often corrupt.
              Hide Caption
              3 of 10
              During the third and last presidential debate, Duterte had said that he would plant a Philippine flag in disputed territories should China refuse to recognize a favorable ruling for the Philippines.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              During the third and last presidential debate, Duterte had said that he would plant a Philippine flag in disputed territories should China refuse to recognize a favorable ruling for the Philippines.
              Hide Caption
              4 of 10
              Duterte made international headlines in April 2016 with his inflammatory comments on the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary that took place in Davao City.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Duterte made international headlines in April 2016 with his inflammatory comments on the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary that took place in Davao City.
              Hide Caption
              5 of 10
              Foreign diplomats weighing in on Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks did not sit well with the then-mayor.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Foreign diplomats weighing in on Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks did not sit well with the then-mayor.
              Hide Caption
              6 of 10
              He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
              Hide Caption
              7 of 10
              At a CNN Philippines Townhall event in February 2016, Duterte, admitted that he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled due to his womanizing, but he denied this meant he objectified women.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              At a CNN Philippines Townhall event in February 2016, Duterte, admitted that he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled due to his womanizing, but he denied this meant he objectified women.
              Hide Caption
              8 of 10
              Although he later denied the accusations, the former Davao City mayor admitted his links to the alleged Davao death squad in a May 2015 broadcast of his local television talk show.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Although he later denied the accusations, the former Davao City mayor admitted his links to the alleged Davao death squad in a May 2015 broadcast of his local television talk show.
              Hide Caption
              9 of 10
              Duterte apologized to the Pope after cursing him for the traffic he caused during a 2015 Papal visit to the Philippines.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Duterte apologized to the Pope after cursing him for the traffic he caused during a 2015 Papal visit to the Philippines.
              Hide Caption
              10 of 10
              As he addressed troops at the country's Armed Forces Central Command Headquarters on August 5, Duterte recounted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, saying in Tagalog that he was feuding with U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              As he addressed troops at the country's Armed Forces Central Command Headquarters on August 5, Duterte recounted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, saying in Tagalog that he was feuding with U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
              Hide Caption
              1 of 10
              The Philippines president-elect effectively said he supported vigilantism against drug dealers and criminals in a nationally televised speech in June 2016.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              The Philippines president-elect effectively said he supported vigilantism against drug dealers and criminals in a nationally televised speech in June 2016.
              Hide Caption
              2 of 10
              Speaking at a press conference to unveil his new cabinet on May 31 2016, Rodrigo Duterte said journalists killed on the job in the Philippines were often corrupt.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Speaking at a press conference to unveil his new cabinet on May 31 2016, Rodrigo Duterte said journalists killed on the job in the Philippines were often corrupt.
              Hide Caption
              3 of 10
              During the third and last presidential debate, Duterte had said that he would plant a Philippine flag in disputed territories should China refuse to recognize a favorable ruling for the Philippines.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              During the third and last presidential debate, Duterte had said that he would plant a Philippine flag in disputed territories should China refuse to recognize a favorable ruling for the Philippines.
              Hide Caption
              4 of 10
              Duterte made international headlines in April 2016 with his inflammatory comments on the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary that took place in Davao City.
              Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
              Duterte made international headlines in April 2016 with his inflammatory comments on the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary that took place in Davao City.
              Hide Caption
              5 of 10
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 5
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 11
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 6
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 7
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 1
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 8
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 10
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 9
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 4
              Rodrigo Duterte quote 3
              Duterte also blamed the United States for causing the unrest on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.
              "As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States," he said. "Why? Because they invaded this country and made us their subjugated people. Everybody has a terrible record of extrajudicial killing. Why make an issue about fighting crime?"
              He added: "Look at the human rights of America along that line. The way they treat the migrants there."
              Read more: Who is Rodrigo Duterte? From 'Punisher' to Philippines President
              In response, Obama suggested earlier Monday his planned meeting with Duterte might not go forward.
              "I always want to make sure if I'm having a meeting that it's productive and we're getting something done," Obama said during a news conference.
              "If and when we have a meeting, this is something that is going to be brought up," Obama said, referring to the Philippines' controversial record of combating drug crime since Duterte took office earlier this year.
              Later, on Monday afternoon, the White House announced the meeting was canceled.
              The Philippines war on drugs
              Since Duterte was elected, more than 1,900 people have died, including at least 700 in police operations that were part of the President's hard-line war on drugs.
              "Double your efforts. Triple them, if need be. We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher have surrendered or [been] put behind bars -- or below the ground, if they so wish," Duterte said during his State of the Nation speech on July 25.
              Read more: Duterte's crackdown -- 6 stories from the front lines
              Who said it: Trump, Duterte or Putin?
              2016 is the year of the 'strongman' leader, in Russia, in the Philippines and potentially in the United States. Can you pick which leader has been 'telling it like it is'?
              Start the quiz
              Despite the bullish tone, a government spokesman insisted the Duterte administration is against any form of extrajudicial killings.
              "We do not condone these acts," Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said.
              "(The) government is here to save our people from the drug menace and punish the offenders, including the big-time ones. The PNP (Philippines National Police) continues to investigate situations involving vigilante killings and operational aspects where deaths are reported."
              Philippines drug war sparks outrage and fear

              Philippines drug war sparks outrage and fear 05:16
              Human Rights Watch has called for the International Narcotics Control Board and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to condemn the "alarming surge in killings of suspected drug users or dealers" in the country.

              CNN's Ben Westcott, Anto
              Last edited by troung; 06 Sep 16,, 03:08.
              To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

              Comment


              • #52
                . As bodies pile up in Philippines, many fear to talk about Duterte’s war

                By John Chalmers and Andrew R.C. Marshall September 4, 2016
                Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa (C), together with police officers and officials from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) torch a stack of marijuana seized in a police operation against illegal drugs, during his visit to Camp Dangwa in La Trinidad, Benguet province, north of Manila, Philippines September 2, 2016. REUTERS/Ezra Acayan
                1 / 26
                Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa lights a stack of marijuana seized in a police operation against illegal drugs, during his visit in Benguet province
                Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa (C), together with police officers and officials from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) torch a stack of marijuana seized in a police operation against illegal drugs, during his visit to Camp Dangwa in La Trinidad, Benguet province, north of Manila, Philippines September 2, 2016. REUTERS/Ezra Acayan
                More
                By John Chalmers and Andrew R.C. Marshall
                MANILA (Reuters) - The body of 22-year-old pedicab driver Eric Sison lies in a coffin in a Manila slum with a chick pacing across his casket, placed there in keeping with a local tradition to symbolically peck at the conscience of his killers.

                Cellphone video footage circulating on social media purports to capture the moment Sison was killed last month when, according to local officials, police were looking for drug pushers in the Pasay township of the Philippines' capital.
                A voice on the video, recorded by a neighbor according to newspaper reports, can be heard shouting "Don't do it, I'll surrender!". Then there is the sound of gunfire.
                A poster near the coffin, which lies beside a stinking canal cut between ramshackle homes, demands "Justice for Eric Quintinita Sison". A handpainted sign reads: "OVERKILL - JUSTICE 4 ERIC."
                These are rare tokens of protest against a surge of killings unleashed since Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines just over two months ago and pledged to wage war on drug dealers and crush widespread addiction to methamphetamine.
                Very little stands in the way of his bloody juggernaut.
                Last week the number of people killed since July 1 reached 2,400: about 900 died in police operations, and the rest are "deaths under investigation", a term human rights activists say is a euphemism for vigilante and extrajudicial killings.
                Duterte's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this report.
                OPPONENTS ASSAILED
                Reuters interviews reveal that the police's Internal Affairs Service (IAS) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) are so overwhelmed by the killings that they can investigate only a fraction, and there is scant hope of establishing many as unlawful because witnesses are too terrified to come forward.
                Meanwhile, the immense popularity of Duterte's crusade and a climate of fear whipped up by the bloodletting have together silenced dissent from civil society. Hardly anyone turned up at candlelight vigils in Manila recently to protest against extrajudicial killings.
                Even as the death toll rose, a July poll by Pulse Asia put Duterte's approval rating at 91 percent.
                Anxious reminders by the Catholic Church of the commandment 'thou shalt not kill' make few headlines in the predominantly Catholic country, with newspapers preferring to carry breathless accounts of the latest slayings.
                Duterte has delivered withering attacks on his chief critic, Senator Leila de Lima, accusing her of dealing in drugs herself and having an affair with her driver.
                "It's only the president who can stop this," de Lima told Reuters last week, deploring what she described as the "madness" that led in one case to a five-year-old girl being shot in the head.
                "How many more of these cases of collateral damage are we willing to bear before we can really start screaming about it?" she asked.
                As for critics abroad, Duterte pours scorn on them in language larded with curses.
                He lambasted the United Nations after it criticized the surge in killings and he turned down a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at a summit in Laos this week.
                Duterte will meet Barack Obama in Laos on Tuesday, although he has made it clear in advance that he will take no lecture on human rights from the U.S. president, when in the United States he alleged "black people are being shot even if they are already lying down".
                "EVERYONE IS AFRAID"
                Duterte may intensify the crackdown after 14 people were killed on Friday in a bomb attack at a market in his hometown, Davao. Police blamed the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic State-linked group Duterte has vowed to destroy, but his war on the drug trade is making enemies elsewhere and the attack quickened rumors of a plot to kill him.
                Duterte has declared a nationwide "state of lawlessness" after the blast that authorizes troops to reinforce the police with checkpoints and patrols.
                He has managed with remarkable speed to nationalize a vicious model for fighting crime that he pioneered as mayor of Davao for 22 years.
                Rights groups documented hundreds of suspicious murders in Davao on Duterte's watch and say death squads operated with impunity there. "The Punisher", as some call him, denies ordering extrajudicial killings but he does not condemn them.
                Across the country now, lists of suspected drug pushers are being provided to police by neighborhood chiefs, adding to a sense of fear and distrust across communities.
                Politicians of all hues have gone quiet, and a Senate enquiry led by de Lima only has the power to propose legislation, not stop the killers in their tracks.
                INVESTIGATORS SWAMPED
                Chief Superintendent Leo Angelo Leuterio, who heads the IAS, says it is his office's responsibility to investigate every discharge of firearms involving police. But with only about 170 investigators nationwide, the IAS is able to deal with just 30 percent of the roughly 30 cases coming in every day.
                "Our resources are breaking at the seams," said Leuterio.
                The IAS chief is supposed to be a civilian to ensure its independence but Leuterio is a policeman who spent 13 years of his career in Duterte's hometown, Davao. He says he is unbiased and has a track record of dismissing hundreds of officers for misconduct.
                The CHR, for its part, is looking at just 259 of the 2,000-plus killings since July 1. Its forensics team of 14 is swamped and in their cramped office investigators probing possible extrajudicial killings are handling just 12 dossiers.
                The commission says its biggest obstacle is that witnesses are hard to find.
                One person who did come forward is Harrah Kazuo, whose husband and father-in-law were severely beaten and shot dead in a police station, according to a CHR report. She told Reuters that when the police entered their home without a warrant they even removed her toddler's underwear to search for drugs.
                Police have not commented on what happened in the home, but two officers have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the case. Kazuo has been taken into witness protection by the CHR.
                She is a rare protesting voice in an environment where many are fearful.
                On Aug. 29, police told reporters they had opened fire that night on a drug suspect in Tondo, a dirt-poor and densely populated district of Manila.
                A Reuters reporter looked into the suspect's one-room home and saw a mattress splattered with blood. He asked a neighbor how many shots had been fired, but the man replied: "Sorry, my friend. I didn't hear a single shot," and walked away.
                (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
                .......
                To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                Comment


                • #53
                  Give these vicious idiots another year and we can discard that one-sided mutual defense treaty.


                  Bello says Obama now a lame-duck President


                  By: Estrella Torres, Julie M. Aurelio

                  @inquirerdotnet


                  Philippine Daily Inquirer

                  02:49 AM September 7th, 2016



                  NOT TO WORRY about US President Barack Obama—he’s a “lame duck.”

                  In a press conference on Tuesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he understood President Duterte’s possible reasons for his predeparture remarks in Davao City on Monday against Obama.

                  “I thought the President is bright. Why did he do that? Maybe, he remembered that President Obama is already a lame-duck president. In a few months, he will leave his office,” Bello said.


                  “I think he is more concerned about the welfare of Filipino workers than establishing a strong relation with an outgoing president,” he said when asked if Mr. Duterte’s statement would have any effect on Filipino workers in the United States, or on American investments in the Philippines.

                  The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) attempted damage control, asserting that Mr. Duterte looked forward to “ironing out differences” with Obama.

                  “President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern. He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy,” a DFA statement said on Tuesday.

                  The department said Mr. Duterte was asserting his intent to chart an independent foreign policy and promote closer ties with all nations. “He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations.”

                  In response, Obama canceled the scheduled meeting of the two leaders on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Vientiane.

                  “Both delegations, however, have agreed that in the light of the issues that still need to be worked on, the bilateral meeting between the two nations will be postponed to a later date,” the DFA said, without giving details.

                  “The President looks forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries,” it said.

                  Addressing international concerns in the Philippines’ war against illegal drugs, the DFA said Mr. Duterte was mindful of securing and preserving the rights and liberties of our people.

                  “It is imperative that the fight against illegal drugs, terrorist, crimes and poverty must be won in order to preserve the principle and values upon which our democratic way of life is anchored,” it said.

                  Former Philippine representative to United Nations Lauro Baja Jr. said Mr. Duterte needed to learn “the art of diplomacy,” pointing out a meeting with Obama could bring “positive intangibles of goodwill, understanding and friendship.”


                  Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/144...#ixzz4JZawUTlk
                  Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
                  Hillary backs Obama and the Philippines is the type of dead weight ally Trump criticizes...
                  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-la...-idUSKCN11C2CD
                  ....
                  Despite U.S. dismay over Duterte's remarks, current and former U.S. officials played down the impact, saying they did not expect any serious damage to ties at a time of high tensions over China's extensive territorial claims in Asia.

                  The State Department said a planned first meeting between Obama and his counterpart Rodrigo Duterte on the sidelines of a regional summit in Laos on Tuesday was canceled because the tone of the Philippine leader's rhetoric raised questions about the chances of productive talks.

                  "Words matter, and we want to see an atmosphere that is cordial and open to strong cooperation," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a regular news briefing in Washington.

                  Clinton, who as secretary of state was an architect of Obama's policy of emphasizing the importance of the Asia Pacific to U.S. interests in the face of a rising China, said Obama was right to cancel the meeting.

                  "When the president of the Philippines insulted our president, it was appropriate in a very low-key way to say: sorry, no meeting," she told reporters on her campaign plane.

                  "We have a lot of ties between the United States and the Philippines. And I think it's very important that we have a relationship, but there has to be a certain level of respect that is expected on both sides," Clinton said.

                  Duterte made the remark about Obama while explaining that he would not be lectured over extrajudicial killings in the war against drugs he has launched since taking over two months ago and which has killed about 2,400 people.
                  .....
                  Last edited by troung; 07 Sep 16,, 14:13.
                  To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                  Comment


                  • #54


                    Duterte voices regrets for insult on Obama

                    Panelo says US misread hyperbole

                    By: Marlon Ramos

                     @MRamosINQ


                    Philippine Daily Inquirer

                    12:03 AM September 7th, 2016







                    Duterte expresses regret over Obama profane comment


                    VIENTIANE—With the sleeves of his barong tagalog rolled up and hands in pant pockets, a contrite President Duterte debuted on Tuesday at the annual Asean summit overshadowed by his “putang ina” remark directed at US President Barack Obama.

                    Mr. Duterte’s “son of a bitch” remark prompted the White House to cancel his meeting with Obama on Tuesday.

                    Other male leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) were dressed in business suits at the National Convention Center in the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Mr. Duterte rolled his sleeves down and buttoned them in the way the shirt is worn on formal occasions when Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith gave a speech to open the summit.


                    In a statement earlier read by presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, Mr. Duterte expressed “regret” for expletive-laden remarks he made on Monday before he departed Davao City for the summit.

                    “While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US President,” the President said.

                    “Our primary intention is to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with all nations, especially the United States with which we have had a long standing partnership,” he said.

                    After Washington called off Tuesday’s bilateral meeting between the two leaders, the Philippines issued two statements expressing regret.

                    “President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern,” the Philippine government said in one statement.

                    “He (President Duterte) regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy,” it added.

                    “He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations.”

                    ‘Misreading’

                    The presidential chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, accused the US government of “misreading” Mr. Duterte’s comments.

                    “Don’t put meaning to that. That’s just his style. It’s just a hyperbole,” Panelo told reporters. “It’s just an expression. I don’t think it was directed to President Obama.”

                    In a separate statement, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Mr. Duterte wanted to reassure the United States that his administration “continues to value the alliance” between the two countries.

                    Opening address

                    In his opening address, the Laotian president outlined “multifaceted security challenges” in many parts of the world—such as terrorism and extremism, natural disasters, climate change, migration crisis, trafficking in people, territorial disputes and armed conflicts.

                    “At the same time, although the global economy has gradually recovered, growth remains slow and fragile,” he said. “There is a need for us to closely follow these developments and continue to enhance Asean cooperation and collaboration with the international community.”

                    Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

                    The summit will be followed by a series of other meetings on Wednesday and a summit on Thursday between leaders from Asean and other countries, including the United States, China, Russia, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

                    Obama arrived in Vientiane on Monday night and will attend Thursday’s summit.

                    Mr. Duterte also arrived on Monday night. But hours earlier, he dropped a diplomatic bombshell by saying he doesn’t want Obama to ask him questions about extrajudicial killings that have occurred amid an ongoing crackdown on drug dealers in the Philippines. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since he took office on June 30.

                    In his typical loose-tongued style, Mr. Duterte said: “I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. Putang ina, I will swear at you in that forum,” he said, using the Tagalog phrase for “son of a bitch.”

                    On Tuesday, Mr. Duterte expressed regret over the remarks, but the damage was already done.

                    DFA still hoping

                    The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, said the Philippine delegation was still pushing for the bilateral meeting between Obama and Mr. Duterte.
                    “Schedules are tight, but there are still occasions for the two leaders to meet here in Laos during the Asean summit. We’re working for that to happen,” Jose said in a text message on Tuesday to the Inquirer.

                    Mr. Duterte is also planning to ask China’s premier at the Vientiane meetings whether China is trying to develop a disputed reef, Scarborough Shoal, off the Philippines’ northwestern coast, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
                    The shoal is part of the larger dispute in the South China Sea between China and some Asean countries. An international arbitration panel recently ruled that China’s expansive claims in the sea are illegal. Beijing has rejected the ruling as a sham.

                    Although Asean has the power of the ruling behind it, its summit is unlikely to mention it in its final declaration, a reflection of Beijing’s diplomatic clout.

                    But according to a draft of the final statement Asean is scheduled to release on Thursday, the region’s leaders will express strong concern about Beijing’s construction of man-made islands in the South China Sea, which Southeast Asian countries fear could destabilize the region.

                    Chinese barges

                    Mr. Duterte said last week that the Philippine Coast Guard had sighted Chinese barges at Scarborough, which he said could presage the transformation of the Chinese-held reef into another man-made island. One of the Chinese vessels had what appeared to be a crane, according to a Philippine official.

                    China sparked widespread alarm when it converted seven reefs in the Spratly Islands into islands that the United States says could be transformed into military bases. With reports from AP and Estrella Torres in Manila


                    Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/144...#ixzz4JZpvX3bS
                    Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
                    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/813371/...th-slur-solons
                    Fault of the media for asking questions
                    ....
                    Minority lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday cautioned President Rodrigo Duterte from making snide remarks against the United States lest he wanted the country to become an isolated state.

                    During a press briefing, Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza said Duterte’s cursing US President Barack Obama and calling him a “son of a bitch” could cost the country’s diplomatic ties with its allies.

                    “I’m afraid that if we continue this kind of course, we might be isolating ourselves from the rest of the world,” Daza said.


                    “I hope that we don’t move out of the international stage, that we continue to be part of the world, to work our problems conscious of our international responsibilities as a state,” he added.

                    Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano said the President should be more cautious in inflaming other countries especially since the Philippines had shared interests with its allies.

                    .......
                    On Tuesday, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar blamed the media for asking Duterte about a possible talk with Obama on the human rights situation in the country, which compelled the foul-mouthed leader to spew expletives.

                    “While the immediate cause (of the meeting’s cancellation) was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US president,” Duterte’s statement read.

                    The meeting with Obama had been scheduled to a later date, the statement also said.


                    some fun from comment section

                    In any relationship, it's always a give and take. For the longest time, we Filipinos loved Americans more than they ever cared for us. We worshiped Americans, prostrated ourselves before the Americans and even sent 44 of our bravest warriors to their grave in Mamasapano just to please the Americans. And yet we never got anything in return, not even so much a thank you note. Now it's payback time. It's time for them Americans to start giving and stop taking. They've taken enough of our lives already.

                    As things now stand, we enjoy an unprecedented advantage. The US needs us more than we need them. The US needs to control and dominate Asia in order to remain the No. 1 superpower of this planet. In order to do this, the US needs to contain if not destroy China. The US needs us and our military bases to form a chain around China and choke China. In that chain against China, the Philippines stands out as the most vital and strategic link. If we choose not to collaborate with the US, if Duterte chooses to be the proverbial monkey wrench to this nicely laid out plan of Pentagon, it's all back to the drawing board for them Americans. So the US needs us more than we need them now.

                    President Digong is doing everything right. He's leveraging our position to extract the maximum gains for our country. Our man Digong is a master strategist in playing big powers. Digong's got game. In Digong we trust, thy will be done.
                    The Americans have always treated us like their inferior ally, their subject, their pawn in international relations.

                    Duterte is more clever than that. He calibrated his response to Obama's intended lecture to remind him of how shabbily Obama treated BS Aquino in the maritime dispute in the South China Sea. Obama bamboozled our ex-president into filing a case with the UNCLOS with the end to serve American interest to dominate the region with their military operations, not really to assert our rights over o few "rocks" that's "now-you-see-them, now-you-don't" in Bajo de Masinloc. We were rewarded with a few junks WWII military ships (which we even paid partially). When the Philippines turned to the U.S. for military support during the confrontation over the Scarborough, we were given that "we don't take sides in territorial disputes among nations" by the State Department.

                    Now that we have a president who is gutsy and street smart, the U.S. will learn to respect our sovereignty and our freedom of choice in doing what's good for our own national interest as a free nation.
                    So what if US does not help the Philippines, with the aid of old junk coast guard ship, which cost our country billions of USD, never mind the US as China will be there to help the country move forward to progress and business with bilateral talks that will restore the good relation
                    It's not looking for a good excuse to justify Duterte's rantings about the projected lecture
                    that Obama was about to dish out to our president.
                    Yes, Digong's response was a notch below civility, and we can only offer the pretext
                    that he can't pretend to be that refined if he will be subjected to a condescending situation
                    where a head of state will dress him down as if he is an American subject or subordinate.

                    The State Department made it known to their Philippine counterpart that Obama will talk frankly
                    about "extrajudicial killings" as if that indeed was a foregone conclusion -
                    that there's extrajudicial killings in the law enforcement efforts against illegal drugs.
                    That's going too far, an unbecoming gesture that a head of state can do to another head of state.

                    Why? Are we indebted to America for everything we need,
                    and that we'll be the most miserable and pathetic country if the Americans were to shut us out of their graces?
                    It's being too much of a sycophant ( who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage),
                    a veritable bootlicker to behave in such a manner, like what most Duterte critics are exhibiting in this forum.
                    It's to be expected that opposition politicians will be noisy about the implications of the scrapping of the Phil-US bilateral talks as the result of Duterte's badmouthing of the American President. They are quick to pounce on any issue that they can use to get back at the immensely popular PRRD in order to gain sympathy from the people about their forlorn lot.

                    Only the most pro-American lackey will consider the scrapping of the bilateral talks as disadvantageous to the Philippines for they think that having audience with an American President is like having the privilege to talk to God. He is a lameduck president anyway, and there's nothing to lose that we haven't lost anyway. China and Japan are more closer to home and we will have them as more strategic partners in trade and military alliances with our country.

                    The Philippines has been taken for granted by the U.S. for so long, and that's what we get in return for smooching American a$$eS far below our dignity. We got tepid aid aid for rehabilitation to our devastated country after World War II, just a fraction of the massive aids to Japan and Germany - the principal enemies during the war, and the Philippines was the staunchest ally in the Far East. yet when it came to the crunch - Manila never recovered from the massive destruction and brutal killings during American liberation. In fact, President Duterte is doing the correct thing with our relations with the Americans. Treat them like anyone else as equally important, not that special. We're not that special to them, so why are we Filipinos are falling all over the place in adoration for the scant attention we get from them?
                    You talk like one of those communist lowlives who have deep hatred against USA but are licking the behind of the Chinese skumbags now invading our territories.

                    USA has been our staunchest ally and have contributed immensely to help our country. They do this over and over and yet leftist losers like you still say we are neglected. When calamities strike our country, like the historic Yolanda superstorm, USA forces and organizations came to our rescue. China sent one medic ship and some aids that are "pilit". Its obvious China is relentling because they know they wont get anything back. USA never asks for anything in return for all their aid.

                    There is a reason why USA is seen as more human than your Chinese idols. You and DU30 dont belong in the Philippines. Your Maoistic ideology is not compatible with compassion and humility of Filipino Christian values. Even Muslims dont want your godless dogma
                    If we are so "proud" of our president being invited by the Japanese prime minister, it means we have moved on from the painful experiences of bing invaded by Japan even though they haven't made reparations to the thousands who were forced to become comfort women during the war. Why do we need to dig up the atrocities we suffered from the Americans when we've already received billions upon billions of dollars in direct and indirect aid from them? Isn't that enough reparations?

                    Our president has already said that war with China is not an option since we do not have the manpower, capability, and armaments to defend ourselves. So he watches his mouth when it comes to China because he knows China will out-stare him and will probably have no compulsion in eradicating us.

                    He dares not lash out at Vladimir Putin. Perhaps he has watched the YouTube videos where Putin shows his moves using JiuJitsu and Sambo.

                    China and Russia can and will nuke us into oblivion.

                    So he lashes out at Obama, and the United Nations headed by Ban Ki Moon, because he knows that these gentlemen are civilized enough not to engage him into a word war or war of egos.

                    Unlike China and Russia, United States will not dare declare war on us. It would be a nightmare of epic proportions to restrain 3 million Filipinos / Filipino-Americans.

                    But let us not forget that they can work behind the scenes to make it hard for our country to develop into something better, perhaps into becoming a first world nation. These so-called gentlemen can actually work behind the scenes to defang our growing "tiger" economy and turn it into a stray cat worth only for siopao.

                    History will teach us that this is what happened to Ferdinand Marcos.

                    Though we are still far from becoming a first world nation, something that all of us Filipinos want, we've improved a lot in the last 30 years. All of those advances we've made is imperiled if our president will not act "presidential" when dealing with the international community and leaders of nations that help us keep the northern bully at bay.
                    Last edited by troung; 07 Sep 16,, 14:39.
                    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                    Comment


                    • #55

                      Rodrigo Duterte Throws a Grenade in Washington’s China Strategy

                      Philippine leader’s rant represents another headache for the U.S. from an Asian ally


                      Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's latest wave of insults isn't the first time America has found itself exasperated with an Asian ally. Photo: EPA
                      .



                      By
                      Andrew Browne




                      Updated Sept. 7, 2016 5:25 a.m. ET

                      20 COMMENTS

                      SHANGHAI—In the Philippines, popular views of America veer between affection and pained resentment, rooted in a brutal colonial past; American conquering forces pioneered waterboarding in the country more than a hundred years ago.

                      Something of this history is captured in an epithet used by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, which cost him a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at a summit of Asian leaders in Laos this week: putang ina in Tagalog—“son of a bitch,” or more literally “son of a whore.” He was furious at suggestions that Mr. Obama would bring up his war on drugs, in which hundreds of dealers and users have been slain by police and vigilantes, as a human-rights violation.

                      This kind of language is par for the course for Mr. Duterte, who’s famous at home—even loved—for his expletive-laden bluntness. He tossed the same insult at the pope.

                      Only the timing came as a surprise. It might seem foolhardy to offend your No. 1 protector and arms supplier when, as an archipelagic nation with a barely credible navy, Chinese armadas are pressing in.

                      This isn’t the first time that America has found itself exasperated with a populist politician at the helm of a close Asian ally. Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister, created enormous headaches for Mr. Obama early in his tenure by visiting the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, where Class A war criminals are honored, enraging China.



                      But whereas Mr. Obama’s challenge was to restrain Mr. Abe from going overboard in his provocations against China, with Mr. Duterte it’s the opposite: keeping him from getting too cozy.

                      Mr. Duterte is pushing a more-independent foreign-policy line that balances alliance commitments to the U.S. with a desire to restore ties with China that went into a deep freeze after his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, launched a legal case in The Hague against China’s sweeping territorial claims to the South China Sea.

                      Mr. Duterte inherited a stunning legal win soon after taking office this year, but he seems unsure what to do with it.

                      He could insist that he will only negotiate with Beijing on the basis of the verdict of the arbitration panel at The Hague, which excoriated Beijing for building artificial islands in The Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Or he could use the verdict as leverage in talks over sharing resources—fisheries and energy—off the Philippines coast. Or he could cave completely and set the verdict aside in hopes that this will unlock a wave of Chinese investment, particularly in his home region of Mindanao.

                      It’s hard to predict how Mr. Duterte, who later expressed regret for his rant, will proceed; China would love to snatch victory from defeat with a deal that makes the verdict virtually go away, though its hard-line diplomacy could turn Mr. Duterte into just as much of an adversary as Mr. Aquino.

                      As the longtime mayor of Davao City, aides say, Mr. Duterte never dealt with China but harbored deep anti-U.S. feelings dating from a mysterious bomb explosion in a local hotel in 2002. An American citizen was charged in that case but fled the country. Mr. Duterte smelled a CIA conspiracy.



                      After his rant at the U.S., President Duterte won’t be meeting with President Obama in Vientiane, Laos. ENLARGE
                      After his rant at the U.S., President Duterte won’t be meeting with President Obama in Vientiane, Laos. Photo: Reuters
                      .
                      In his outburst that scuppered his meeting with Mr. Obama, Mr. Duterte railed against America. The Philippines is not a “vassal state” or a “lap dog,” he said. “We have long ceased to be a colony.”

                      When America was building its alliance system in Asia during the Cold War, human rights weren’t much of a concern. Washington supported a procession of strongmen from Park Chung-hee in Korea to Chiang Ching-kuo in Taiwan and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.

                      But human rights are likely to be an acute and persistent irritant in U.S.-Philippine relations under Mr. Duterte. His war on drugs was his political signature in Davao, where he roared around the streets on a motorbike cradling a rifle. It is a wellspring of his national popularity today, and a deep source of legitimacy for a foul-mouthed leader who finds himself out of place among the Manila elites.

                      The U.S. is watching him warily. The Philippines is a key part of the U.S. “pivot” to Asia, aimed at pushing back against China’s building power: as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton launched the pivot on the deck of an American warship in Manila Bay. American forces, having been kicked out of Subic Bay naval base in 1992, a year after losing nearby Clark Air Force Base to a volcano, are now back in smaller numbers on a rotational basis.

                      Usefully for Washington, Mr. Duterte has a soft spot for Japan; Japanese businesses have poured investment into Davao. In Laos, Messrs. Abe and Duterte on Wednesday reached a deal for Japan to give the Philippines two patrol ships and lend it as many as five surveillance planes. Some analysts see Japan playing a bridging role between Washington and Manila.

                      China will be watching the Abe-Duterte chemistry with consternation. For Washington, the best short-term hope may be a middle way between Mr. Abe’s tendencies to rile Beijing and Mr. Duterte’s to appease it.

                      Write to Andrew Browne at [email protected]

                      Rodrigo Duterte's Obama insult costs Philippines stock market hundreds of millions

                      Funds to pull hundreds of millions from country amid Filipino leader's increasingly volatile behaviour, after he called Barack Obama a 'son of a whore' and threatened to pull out of UN

                      Ian Sayson
                      8 hours ago
                      39 comments









                      8K
                      Duterte's actions, including offending Barack Obama, have caused investors to worry about the country's stability
                      Popular videos

                      PMQs: The Leader of the Opposition gave the performance of his life
                      Venezuelans are leaving their pets to starve
                      PMQs: Theresa May was hopeless – because Corbyn was

                      Losses in Philippine stocks are accelerating as foreigners keep pulling money from Asia’s most expensive market, amid speculation that the outbursts of President Rodrigo Duterte are hurting investor sentiment.

                      The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 1.3 per cent to 7,619.10 in its biggest decline in five weeks. The gauge has dropped 6 per cent from a 15-month high on 21 July, paring its gain this year to 9.6 per cent.

                      Foreign funds pulled $58m (£43m) from local equities on Wednesday, the most in almost a year, and have sold a net $333m in an 11-day run of outflows. The index is down 2.3 per cent this quarter, the only decliner among major Asian markets.
                      Read more
                      Philippines president calls Barack Obama a 'son of a b****'

                      Duterte’s threat to call US President Barack Obama a “son of a whore” if he criticised an anti-drug campaign that’s left around 2,400 dead, and the subsequent cancellation of a meeting between the leaders, “didn’t sit well” with overseas investors, said Rafael Palma Gil, a portfolio manager at Rizal Commercial Banking Group in Manila.

                      Duterte’s behaviour is taking the shine off a market that has been an investor favourite due to one of the highest economic growth rates in Asia.
                      Play Video
                      Play
                      0:00
                      /
                      0:00

                      Share
                      Fullscreen
                      Seven of Rodrigo Duterte's most controversial quotes

                      “The latest incident raises concern that President Duterte’s unpredictable behavior in politics will be disruptive and could eventually spill into economics and business,” said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank, the Philippines’ biggest lender.
                      Read more

                      Rodrigo Duterte: Philippines president expresses 'regret' after referring to Barack Obama as a 'son of a wh***'
                      Barack Obama cancels meeting with Rodrigo Duterte after Philippines president calls him a 'son of a w****'
                      Rodrigo Duterte: Philippines president calls Barack Obama a 'son of a bitch'
                      Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte threatens to pull out of the UN
                      Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte calls US ambassador a 'gay son of a whore'
                      Harrowing photos from inside Filipino jail show reality of Rodrigo Duterte's brutal war on drugs

                      It has “further weakened a market that’s already been made vulnerable by uncertainty over US interest rates, elevated valuations and overseas fund withdrawals,” he said.

                      The Philippine index is trading at 18.3 times 12-month estimated earnings. While that is down from 19.6 in July, it is still the highest in Asia and at a 32 per cent premium to the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The country’s economy expanded 7 per cent last quarter from a year earlier, after 6.8 per cent growth in the first three months of 2016.


                      Philippines GDP | FindTheData


                      Investors may be better off holding cash in the near term as the index could test its 7,500 support level, said Mr Ravelas. The gauge could fall as low as 7,330 in the next two months over concerns the budget deficit will rise when taxes are cut and spending raised, April Lee-Tan, head of research at COL Financial Group in Manila, said on Monday.

                      “Smart investors should take advantage of the weakness and accumulate because this is all sentiment-driven,“ said Mr Palma Gil. “Other than incendiary statements and killings related to the drug war, investors like Duterte’s economic and fiscal policies or at least what has been communicated so far,” he said, adding that he expected the index would go back up to 8,000.
                      Play Video
                      Play
                      0:00
                      /
                      0:00

                      Share
                      Fullscreen
                      Obama responds to being called a 'son of a bitch' by Rodrigo Duterte

                      A deadly bombing on 2 September in Davao City, Duterte’s hometown, and the president’s subsequent declaration of a “state of lawlessness” pose only a limited credit impact in the near term, Moody’s Investors Service said in a statement released on Wednesday.

                      “If recent events lead to prolonged uncertainty around security or economic policy, such a development would eventually dampen business confidence and consequently, economic outcomes,” Moody’s said. Duterte’s “increasingly controversial law and order policies could exact an opportunity cost for reform.”

                      Bloomberg
                      http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...-a7229696.html
                      http://www.wsj.com/articles/duterte-...egy-1473239479
                      Last edited by troung; 07 Sep 16,, 23:05.
                      To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        At the rate this guy is moving we will be unhitching ourselves from this corpse any day now.

                        US military should play no part in Duterte’s bloody ‘reckoning’ with China

                        Doug Bandow says if the Philippines president insists on armed conflict over Scarborough Shoal at some point, he cannot expect the US to do the fighting
                        PUBLISHED : Thursday, 08 September, 2016, 12:39pm
                        UPDATED : Thursday, 08 September, 2016, 7:00pm

                        Comment: 1
                        Doug Bandow
                        Doug Bandow
                        1Share

                        Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is threatening a “reckoning” with China over the disputed Scarborough Shoal. Military misadventure by Manila could drag the US and its other allies into a catastrophic conflict over Filipino interests of minimal importance to America.
                        ‘It will be bloody’: Duterte’s warning to China if it attacks the Philippines in festering sea dispute

                        China is at odds with many of its neighbours over control of islands and waters throughout East Asia. Among the bitterest spats is that with Manila over Scarborough Shoal. In July, an international tribunal ruled for the Philippines. However, China refused to participate in the case and has shown no inclination to retreat.

                        [A watermarked image provided by the Philippines purports to show one of many Chinese vessels filmed during an overflight by a Philippine Air Force plane near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on September 3. Photo: EPA]
                        Philippines accuses Beijing of secret island building, releases photos of Chinese boats at disputed Scarborough Shoal

                        Duterte is open to talks, but only based on “that arbitral judgment”. He seemed ready for conflict, announcing, “there will come a time that we will have to do some reckoning about this”.

                        “I guarantee to them, if you are the ones who enter here, it will be bloody and we will not give it to them easily. It will be the bones of our soldiers and even my own.”
                        Filipino nationalists say flag-planting on disputed shoal halted by China

                        In Duterte’s imagined reckoning, he almost certainly does not expect most of the blood to come from Filipinos. That’s where Americans are supposed to come in. After all, Manila doesn’t have much of a military. The Philippines spends less than one per cent of GDP on defence. That is why it wants to borrow the US military in any conflict. The two nations purport to be allies under the Mutual Defence Treaty of 1951. Alas, the pact is “mutual” in name only. The Philippines’ only job is to let America defend it.

                        [A handout photo shows boats at Scarborough Shoal on March 12. The US navy reported Chinese activity around the shoal, in the northern part of the disputed Spratly Islands. Photo: Reuters]
                        US forces to gain access to more Philippine bases in addition to five already announced

                        Despite Philippine pressure for a liberal interpretation of the treaty, the Barack Obama administration has avoided explicitly committing itself to protect Scarborough Shoal.
                        Let it be Filipino rather than American forces which do the bleeding

                        However worthwhile base access and other activities may be – America should be intervening less, not more, around the world – they do not require a US security guarantee. But in April, the Obama administration announced it would send more aircraft and personnel to rotate through the Philippines while conducting joint air and naval patrols with its forces.

                        Although US defence chief Ash Carter said it was “trying to tamp down tensions”, then Philippine defence secretary Voltaire Gazmin was more forthright: the US “presence here, will deter uncalled for actions by the Chinese”.

                        Actually, the Philippines matters little for US security. Confronting a nuclear-armed power over Scarborough Shoal or similar disputed territories would be madness. If Manila wants to defend its interest against China, it should create a military capable of doing so. If the China-Philippines dispute reaches the “reckoning” predicted by Duterte, then let it be Filipino rather than American forces which do the bleeding.

                        Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to president Ronald Reagan
                        This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
                        Manila must fight own battles
                        http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-...oody-reckoning
                        To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          .


                          Filtered By: News
                          NEWS
                          ACCORDING TO DIPLOMATS IN ATTENDANCE
                          Duterte veers off speech, launches tirade on US killings in front of Obama
                          Published September 8, 2016 9:09pm
                          Updated September 8, 2016 10:19pm
                          In what attendees described as a "fiery address," President Rodrigo Duterte veered off his prepared speech on Thursday at a meeting of the 18-nation East Asia group including United States President Barack Obama to launch a tirade on US military killings in the Philippines.

                          This was according to three diplomats who were in the room who spoke to Agence France-Presse at the event in Vientiane, Laos.

                          "The Philippine president showed a picture of the killings of American soldiers in the past and the president said: 'This is my ancestor they killed. Why now we are talking about human rights,'" an Indonesian delegate said. The Philippines was an American colony from 1898 to 1946.

                          The delegate described the atmosphere in the room as "quiet and shocked."

                          Another diplomat described the speech as "normal Duterte."

                          Describing Duterte's impromptu remarks as a "passionate intervention," the Department of Foreign Affairs said he "underscored the need to take a long historical view of human rights mindful of the atrocities against the ethnic people of Mindanao."

                          The DFA noted that the summit "is a forum for leaders to exchange views in an open, candid and frank manner."

                          "Now more than ever, Southeast Asia is faced with non traditional security issues including terrorism, drugs and human trafficking. The challenge for each country is to address these transnational threats in the context of their own socio-political situations and national history," read the DFA statement.

                          "Even as we continue to comply with our constitutional requirements in the observance of due process and respect for human rights, he is committed to combatting the spread of illegal drugs to ensure the security and well being of the next generation."

                          Innocents could be hurt

                          In response, Obama urged Duterte to conduct his crime war "the right way."

                          "We want to partner with the Philippines on the particular issue of narco-traffickers, which is a serious problem in the Philippines. It's a serious problem in the United States and around the world. On that narrow issue, we do want to make sure that the partnership we have is consistent with international norms and rule of law," he said.

                          "It is important from our perspective to make sure that we do it the right way, because the consequences of when you do it the wrong way is innocent people get hurt and you have a whole bunch of unintended consequences that don’t solve the problem."

                          Obama was quick to add that the rift with Duterte "has no impact on our broader relationship with the Philippine people, on the wide range of programs and security cooperation that we have with this treaty ally."

                          "My hope and expectation is, is that as President Duterte and his team get acclimated to his new position, that they're able to define and clarify what exactly they want to get done, how that fits in with the work that we're already doing with the Philippine government, and hopefully it will be on a strong footing by the time the next administration comes in," he added.

                          advertisement



                          'You must be respectful'

                          Duterte set the tone for the week when, just before flying to Laos on Monday, he launched a barrage of insults at Obama in response to the US president's plans to question him over his war on drugs.

                          "You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum," Duterte told reporters shortly before flying to Laos.

                          At the press conference marking the end of his trip to Laos, Obama said he was unfazed by Duterte's slur.

                          "I don't take these comments personally because it seems as if this is a phrase he's used repeatedly including directed at the pope and others," Obama said.

                          He added that such choice words were "a habit, a way of speaking for him".

                          Duterte has branded Pope Francis, the US ambassador to Manila and the United Nations as "sons of whores".

                          However, Obama cancelled a meeting with Duterte scheduled for Tuesday because of the outburst.

                          They met on Wednesday night before a leaders' dinner in what Obama described as "not a long interaction".

                          Duterte has said the Philippines is in danger of becoming a "narco state", and eliminating drugs in society is the top priority of his administration. Duterte has also repeatedly promised to protect police from prosecution if they are charged over the deaths and insisted human rights cannot get in the way of his war.

                          On the day he was sworn into office, June 30, Duterte urged people living in a Manila slum to kill drug addicts in their community.

                          The United Nations special rapporteur on summary executions has warned incitement to kill is a crime under international law.

                          However Duterte has remained unfazed.

                          "More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets," Duterte said on Monday. —report from Agence France-Presse and GMA News

                          Show comments
                          - See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story....xGnHAqQW.dpuf
                          ..m.
                          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Goddamn Americans


                            . FACT CHECK: FA-50s criticized by Duterte are from
                            S. Korea, not US


                            http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/...south-korea-us
                            A quick check show the two FA-50s cited by the President were acquired under the previous administration as part of the military modernization program in the face of China's threat in the disputed South China Sea

                            Katerina Francisco
                            @kaifrancisco
                            Published 9:00 PM, September 09, 2016
                            Updated 9:00 PM, September 09, 2016
                            BOUGHT FROM KOREA. The FA-50 fighter jets President Rodrigo Duterte referenced in his speech on September 9, 2016, were bought not from the US, but from South Korea. Photo from the Philippine Air Force



                            BOUGHT FROM KOREA. The FA-50 fighter jets President Rodrigo Duterte referenced in his speech on September 9, 2016, were bought not from the US, but from South Korea. Photo from the Philippine Air Force

                            MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, September 9, slammed the United States' defense assistance to the Philippines, saying the equipment given by Manila's former colonial ruler only served a "ceremonial" purpose and was just for show.

                            In a speech tinged with sarcasm before the Filipino community in Indonesia, Duterte cited in particular the delivery of two FA-50 fighter jets to the Philippines.

                            "We have received so many things from America. Thank you for your generosity. What they sold us, two, only two FA-50 (fighter jets). It’s FA-50 but they never gave us the missiles and the bullets and the cannons to fight. For ceremonial lang (only)," he said.

                            The FA-50 jets that the President is referring to, however, did not come from the US, but were bought, brand new, from South Korea.

                            The two FA-50s arrived in the Philippines in November 2015 – the first two of the total 12 fighter jets that will be delivered to the Philippines until 2017.

                            They were part of the P18.9 billion-contract that the Aquino government signed in March 2014, as part of the previous administration's military modernization program. (IN PHOTOS: Aquino leads turnover of brand-new fighter jets)

                            The arrival of the FA-50 jets marked the Philippines' return to the supersonic age, a decade since it retired the last of its F-5 fighters in 2005.

                            The Korean Aerospace Industry describes the FA-50 as a "light combat derivative of the T-50 supersonic advanced jet trainer."

                            Waste of money?

                            Earlier this year, Duterte had branded the purchase of the FA-50s as a "waste of money" because, he said, they could only be used for ceremonies.

                            "You cannot use them for anti-insurgency, which is the problem at the moment. You can only use these for ceremonial fly-by," he was quoted saying at a business forum in June.

                            He added that the jets would not be enough to match China's military might.

                            Duterte, however, may have been referring not to the FA-50s from South Korea, but to the F-16 fighter jets from the US.

                            In 2014, Philippine ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr said that the military had been eyeing the F-16s, but decided not to go through with the purchase because of high maintenance costs.

                            Credible defense

                            The multipurpose fighter for the Philippine Air Force can carry 4.5 tons of weapons and is equipped with Night Vision Imaging System, Radar Warning Receiver, and the Counter Measure Dispenser System.

                            The fighter jets are just a part of the other military assets bought under the Aquino administration to achieve "minimum credible defense," prompted by the looming threat of China's aggressiveness in the contested South China Sea. (READ: P75-B boost for PH Navy to resist bullies)

                            But Duterte has adopted a different stance toward China and the US, a longtime ally with whom Manila signed a defense deal in 2014.

                            Earlier this week, Duterte drew global attention with his expletive-laden comments that, he claimed, were wrongly interpreted by the media as being directed at US President Barack Obama.

                            He had also hit the world superpower for its atrocities committed against Filipinos back when the Philippines was still a US colony.

                            Meanwhile, Duterte was all praises for China for its "generosity" to the Philippines and for pledging its support to his war against drugs.

                            Just two days after his controversial statement against the US, the Philippine coast guard said the US will be giving two used military aircraft to expand sea patrols.

                            The two Sherpa 30-seater aircraft are set to be delivered in December. –
                            To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Quite nice of China to build a rehab enter near a major military base in NE...

                              Recommended by
                              Duterte: I’m no fan of US
                              ‘PH will pursue independent foreign policy’
                              SHARES: 4709
                              VIEW COMMENTS
                              By: Allan Nawal
                              @inquirerdotnet
                              Inquirer Mindanao
                              01:46 AM September 11th, 2016
                              Duterte: Gov’t to pursue ‘independent foreign policy’
                              Duterte: Gov’t to pursue ‘independent foreign policy’
                              Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte AP FILE PHOTO

                              Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte AP FILE PHOTO

                              DAVAO CITY—Saying he was “not a fan” of the United States, President Duterte on Saturday vowed to steer an independent course for the Philippines, and refrain from confronting territorial rival China and from picking up a fight with any nation over human rights.

                              “I am not a fan of the Americans … Filipinos should be first before everybody else,” Mr. Duterte told reporters upon arrival in his hometown, Davao City, from his first foreign trip that was marred by a diplomatic bust-up with the United States after he called President Barack Obama a “son of a bitch.”

                              READ: Duterte on Obama ‘slur’: I never made statement; it’s media spin

                              “In our relations to the world, the Philippines will pursue an independent foreign policy. I repeat: The Philippines will pursue an independent foreign policy,” Mr. Duterte said.

                              READ: Duterte: Gov’t to pursue ‘independent foreign policy’

                              Mr. Duterte arrived at Davao International Airport at 12:50 a.m. aboard a chartered Philippine Airlines flight from Jakarta, where he had talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday.

                              Reporting on his trip in an arrival speech, Mr. Duterte said advancing the Philippines’ interest was his objective in attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit and related meetings in Vientiane, Laos, last week.

                              “I engaged the leaders of Asean and its dialogue partners on important regional and international issues that impact on peace, security, stability and prosperity of our region,” he said.

                              Despite an earlier promise not to raise the South China Sea dispute with China at the summit, Mr. Duterte said he brought up the topic but “stressed our commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international laws, including [the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea].”

                              He said he pointed out the “serious concern in the region over terrorism and violent extremism” and urged Asean and other leaders to “redouble” cooperative efforts to deal with this menace.

                              Illegal drugs

                              Mr. Duterte said he also brought up the problem of illegal drugs, telling the leaders that his administration’s campaign against the narcotics trade encompassed “suppression, prosecution and rehabilitation,” with all actions “within the bounds of our laws.”

                              Nearly 3,000 drug suspects have been killed in the Philippines since Mr. Duterte launched his war on drugs upon taking office on June 30.

                              Police take credit for 1,033 of those deaths and blame the 1,894 others on vigilantes or hired guns.

                              “More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets,” Mr. Duterte said last week.

                              The United States, United Nations and international human rights groups have expressed concern over the killings, angering Mr. Duterte, who brooks no opposition to the scorched-earth policy he has laid down for his drug campaign.

                              ‘Son of a bitch’

                              Told on Monday, as he prepared to leave for Laos, that Obama intended to raise human rights during their meeting on the sidelines of the Asean summit, Mr. Duterte spewed the Filipino equivalent of “son a bitch” and warned that he would not take a lecture from the US leader or he would curse him at the summit.

                              The White House canceled Obama’s meeting with Mr. Duterte. The two men, however, met before a leaders’ gala dinner on Wednesday and chatted briefly.



                              READ: Duterte, Obama briefly talk before Asean dinner

                              Mr. Duterte said he told Obama that he never called him a “son of a bitch.”

                              In a news conference on Thursday, Obama said he told Mr. Duterte to conduct his war on drugs “the right way,” but the Philippine leader dismissed it as being none of America’s business.

                              In a news conference that followed his arrival speech, Mr. Duterte said nobody knew how serious the drug problem in the Philippines was until he focused on it.

                              He said drugs had so proliferated that there were now 3.7 million addicts in the country.

                              “So it is never wrong to threaten criminals,” he said, referring to his threat to traffickers and dealers to surrender or be killed.

                              “As your President and a lawyer, I have every right to threaten criminals and how it develop to the ending is another problem,” he said.

                              Human rights

                              Mr. Duterte said he never wanted to pick a fight with any nation over human rights.

                              “That is farthest from my mind. I only want to be at peace with everybody, doing business with everybody and no quarrels,” he said.

                              The United Nations had sought a meeting between UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Mr. Duterte at the Asean summit, but the Philippine leader, who called the United Nations “stupid” and “inutile” after its rights experts criticized his war on drugs, refused.

                              Mr. Duterte, however, said he and Ban had a brief chat at the summit. He said Ban brought up human rights and “I responded very well.”

                              He said he told Ban that the Philippines would pursue an independent foreign policy.

                              Mr. Duterte also said China pledged to help his administration’s fight against drugs by building rehabilitation centers for addicts who had turned themselves in.

                              He said he assumed the presidency “midterm” so that there were no funds to finance the building of rehabilitation centers. That’s why he accepted China’s offer, he said.

                              Dispute with China

                              Mr. Duterte came to office talking about negotiating a solution of the Philippines’ dispute with China in the South China Sea despite a ruling against Beijing by an international tribunal in a case brought by Manila.

                              Obama, whose government wants to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, brought up the contentious issue at the Laos summit also attended by China.

                              He stressed that the ruling of the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague was “binding” and could not be ignored by Beijing, which has rejected it.

                              Mr. Duterte favors a “soft landing” for the issue. On Saturday, he said it would be counterproductive for militarily weak Philippines, which hosts small units of US forces, to confront China or undertake actions that could lead to armed conflict.

                              He said: “I assured everybody that there are only two options there: We go to fight, which we cannot afford at all, or talk.”

                              Last month, Mr. Duterte sent a special envoy, former President Fidel Ramos, to Hong Kong to meet with Chinese representatives to initiate talks with China on the maritime dispute between the two countries. With a report from AFP/TVJ
                              Duterte brings ‘new normal’ to PH-US ties
                              SHARES: 176
                              VIEW COMMENTS
                              By: Marlon Ramos, Nikko Dizon, Vince F. Nonato
                              @inquirerdotnet
                              Philippine Daily Inquirer
                              12:35 AM September 12th, 2016
                              Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses delegates of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, a parallel summit in the ongoing 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and other related summits Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016 in Vientiane, Laos. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

                              Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

                              RELATIONS between the Philippines and the United States have been historically stormy but close, but the arrival of a roughneck in Malacañang who says he is no fan of the Americans has brought a “new normal” to those ties and Washington is not unlikely to keep Manila at a distance in the next six years.

                              While China’s increasing aggressiveness in the South China Sea keeps US-Philippine security relations “indispensable,” according to Richard Heydarian, a political science professor at De La Salle University, it is clear that under the administration of President Duterte, “the United States can no longer expect the same level of strategic deference and diplomatic support” from the Philippines.

                              “This is the new normal in Philippine-US relations,” Heydarian wrote in a commentary published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

                              Mr. Duterte’s declaration that he is adopting an independent foreign policy for the Philippines, Heydarian said, is a “brazen and audacious policy pronouncement in a profoundly pro-American society, where much of the intelligentsia and security forces feel deep affinity with the United States.”
                              Falling out with Obama

                              Mr. Duterte, who has made it clear to his supporters and opponents from the get-go that he is no ordinary politician—uncouth, brutally frank and even murderous at times—declared an independent course for the Philippines on Saturday after a spectacular falling out with US President Barack Obama that became the buzz at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Laos last week.

                              It was Mr. Duterte’s maiden outing as the new leader of the Philippines and he was to meet Obama for talks on the sidelines of the summit, but he busted it by spewing “son of a bitch” in a tirade that he launched after being told as he was about to leave for Laos on Monday that the US leader would raise human rights with him during their meeting.

                              The White House brought down the ax: No US-Philippine meeting.

                              Although Mr. Duterte said he regretted his intemperate language, Obama was aloof when they met before the Asean leaders’ gala dinner on Wednesday night.

                              Mr. Duterte said he told Obama that he never called him a “son of a bitch” and that the US president told him, “My men will talk to you.”
                              Got message across

                              In a news conference wrapping up his last visit to Asia as US leader, Obama said he told Mr. Duterte to conduct his war on drugs “the right way.”

                              So Mr. Duterte, who brooks no opposition to his decisions, chose to go his own way.

                              Call it roughneck diplomacy or whatever, but Malacañang insisted on Sunday that Mr. Duterte was able to get a plain-spoken message across to the world.

                              “The most important message is [that] we have our own foreign policy to follow,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said on dzRB radio.

                              “It’s also important that the President showed other countries that we support foreign trade and calls for respect for rule of law in the Asean region,” he said.
                              ‘Perfect’

                              “Perfect” is how Mr. Duterte himself described his first interaction with world leaders, including Obama.

                              Mr. Duterte, however, failed to muster enough support from the 10-member Asean to nudge China into respecting an international tribunal’s ruling against its claims to almost all of the South China Sea.

                              Critics also observed that his acerbic attitude toward the United States and the United Nations was the complete opposite of his friendliness to China, with whom he wanted bilateral talks to resolve the South China Sea dispute despite a ruling for the Philippines by the tribunal.

                              But European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen described as “interesting” the way Mr. Duterte presented his policies and views at the Asean summit.

                              In an open letter posted by the EU Delegation on Facebook, Jessen said the Philippines “is an important member of the international community, and the statements of its President are carefully noted.”

                              He said he was reading Robert A. Fulton’s 2007 book “Moroland.”

                              “I am well aware that it offers just one perspective of a very turbulent and difficult period, but I do believe, as President Duterte does, that we all should seek to learn from history,” he said.
                              http://globalnation.inquirer.net/144...-to-ph-us-ties
                              Last edited by troung; 11 Sep 16,, 19:13.
                              To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                              Comment


                              • #60
                                Duterte to US troops: Leave Mindanao or Abus will kill you


                                By Alexis Romero (philstar.com) | Updated September 12, 2016 - 5:38pm

                                President Duterte said the Abu Sayyaf bandits hate the US so much that they are ready to kill any American they would see. STAR/File


                                MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED 6:50 p.m.) — After blasting the US for supposedly interfering with his anti-drug war, President Rodrigo Duterte Monday called for the pullout of American troops in Mindanao as he blamed Washington for the conflict and security threats in the south.

                                Duterte said American troops in Mindanao should leave as they are in danger of being abducted by US-hating terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.


                                “The special forces, they have to go. They have to go in Mindanao. There are many whites there,” the president said during the oath taking of new appointees Monday in Malacañan.

                                “If they see an American, they would kill him. They would demand ransom then kill him. Even if you’re a black or white American as long as you are an American, (they will kill you),” he added.



                                Some US troops have been deployed in Zamboanga City to assist Philippine security forces in its campaign against terrorists. Since the Constitution prohibits foreign troops from engaging in direct combat operations, the US soldiers assist the military through training and information sharing.



                                RELATED: Westmincom mum on Duterte's comment for US troops to leave Mindanao



                                “The situation there (in Mindanao) will worsen. If they (Americans) are seen there, they will be killed,” Duterte said.



                                The president said he could not express the sentiment during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meet in Laos last week, which was also attended by US President Barack Obama.



                                “I could not speak then out of respect and I do not want a rift with America. But they have to go,” the president said.



                                Under Duterte, the Philippines has had an uncomfortable relationship with the US, its treaty partner and longtime ally. The Philippine president has scored the American government for allegedly moralizing about human rights despite its past atrocities.



                                The US has expressed deep concerns over Duterte’s war on drugs, which human rights advocates claimed encourages summary executions. Nearly 3,000 suspected drug offenders have been killed since Duterte assumed office, almost half of them by suspected vigilante groups.



                                Duterte lashed back at the US by citing its supposed failure to stop the killing of African-Americans by policemen and by accusing it of “exporting terrorism” in the Middle East.



                                The president continued with his tirades against the US Monday as he blamed Washington for the violence in Iraq and Libya. He also showed photos of the Bud Dajo massacre, wherein Moro rebels and civilians were killed by US forces during the Filipino-American war.



                                The photo showed American soldiers with piles of dead Moros including naked women. About 1,000 Filipino Muslims were reportedly killed during the atrocity, which happened in Jolo in 1906.



                                “The US is a hypocrite,” Duterte said.



                                The photos of the Bud Dajo massacre were also shown by Duterte during last Thursday’s East Asian Summit in Laos.


                                “Look at the bodies there... For as long as we stay with America, we will never have peace in that land. We might as well give it up," Duterte said.


                                “See the soldiers stepping on a woman’s bare breast… They even made a postcard out of it,” he added.

                                Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte’s statement reflects the president’s “new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy.”


                                “He (Duterte) has made reference to the unrecognized, unrepented and unatoned for massacre at Bud Dajo in Sulu by the Americans, hence our continued connection with West is the real reason for the ‘Islamic’ threat in Mindanao,” Abella said in a statement.


                                “The American silence on the matter lacks congruence with its 'moral' position, in the light of actions taken in the past by the Germans who confessed and made atonement for the Holocaust, and Japan which made reparations for the atrocities it perpetrated among the peoples they conquered,” he added.



                                Abella said Duterte is on “morally firm ground” by “breaking up walls that cover dark corners” in the bilateral ties between the Philippines and the US.



                                Duterte has vowed to pursue an independent foreign policy and has repeatedly stressed that he is not beholden to anyone but the Filipino people.
                                http://www.philstar.com/headlines/20...-will-kill-you



                                Gordon: Give Duterte power to suspend writ of habeas corpus







                                SHARES: 13.8K

                                VIEW COMMENTS


                                By: Tarra Quismundo

                                @TarraINQ


                                Philippine Daily Inquirer

                                02:45 PM September 8th, 2016


                                MANILA — Sen. Richard Gordon on Thursday said the President should be granted the authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus — a move that would allow warrantless arrests — to quell terrorism and illegal drugs, saying the current declaration of a state of emergency on account of lawless violence would not be enough to address security problems.

                                Gordon made the proposal even as Duterte’s proclamation, made in the wake of the deadly bombing in Davao City on Friday, already allowed the warrantless arrest of those caught in the act of violating the law, those who bolted prison and those who surrendered to authorities.

                                The President’s declaration has already stoked fears that it may escalate into a declaration of martial law, but Malacañang clarified that the proclamation was not tantamount to authoritarian rule. It just empowered the President to call on the military to augment the police in law enforcement duties.

                                Gordon said his proposed extended authority, to come in the form of a bill to be filed next week, should be granted the President especially to bolster his war against illegal drugs, which he said has affected the country for decades.

                                “We are at war with drugs right now… If he has to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to fight drugs and terrorism, let’s give him that power so we won’t just keep saying people are getting killed, but that can’t be proven,” Gordon told reporters.

                                “It’s better to say arrest people who should be arrested,” he said.

                                “Instead of pretending that we really want to get rid of drugs, let’s go straight, let’s give him the chance, but with Congress in control of the situation,” Gordon said.

                                He said the Constitution has allowed this “in cases of war or national emergencies.

                                “Congress may even extend the declaration of the national emergency subject to rules it may deem fit up to a certain time in a limited period,” he said.

                                dick gordon
                                Senator Richard Gordon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

                                “Let’s let him declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, so that if they have to arrest someone, they can arrest and investigate promptly,” he said.

                                Pressed repeatedly whether his proposal would be akin to martial law, Gordon said: “Let’s not be afraid of martial law. This is limited to drugs. Do we want to go back to how it was before? On the one hand, when someone does something, we get angry at him. And if nothing is being done, that’s also OK with us.”

                                He said he was only “protecting the public,” as granting the expanded authority through Congressional action would guard against abuses.

                                “I’d rather have Congress in control than one man,” he told reporters.

                                Habeas corpus is the power of the court to require the state to produce a person in custody. Under the Constitution, its suspension is only allowed with respect “to persons judicially charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in or directly connected with invasion.”

                                Once suspended, authorities will have the power to arrest anybody without warrant and may pave the way for prolonged periods of detention without charges. SFM/rga


                                Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/813820/...#ixzz4K5Ddb7kt
                                Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
                                Last edited by troung; 12 Sep 16,, 23:29.
                                To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X